OSINT Tools Worth Sharing

Open source intelligence is the next big thing, it will change the processes and systems of current intelligence structure. By looking at broader perspective, we can easily find the application of OSINT from business intelligence to security agencies, in short marketing firms, media houses, hackers, security and military agencies blah blah blah can get benefits out of from OSINT. But how, when and where to use OSINT ? This is actually a topic to discuss because if you have a weapon but you don't know how, when and where to use, then believe me this weapon is useless.

The answer of how to use open source intelligence is hidden on the tools and techniques, so in this article we will cover some great tools that are available in the market; and you can utilize them to make your hacking practice efficient (if you know what I mean). Some of the tools listed below are available on Kali Linux (the successor of backtrack) but if you are using any other distribution or even Windows OS then you can download and use them.

Maltego

Maltego is the tool that can gather information (believe me, it can gather). Maltego is a unique platform developed to deliver a clear threat picture to the environment that an organization owns and operates. Maltego’s unique advantage is to demonstrate the complexity and severity of single points of failure as well as trust relationships that exist currently within the scope of your infrastructure. 

• Maltego- Information Gathering ToolTutorial
• Maltego Information Gathering Backtrack5
• Maltego Tutorial - Mesh Analysis

SHODAN

SHODAN is a search engine that lets you find specific computers (routers, servers, etc.) using a variety of filters. Some have also described it as a public port scan directory or a search engine of banners.

theHarvester

theHarvester is intended to help Penetration testers in the early stages of the penetration test in order to understand the customer footprint on the Internet. It is also useful for anyone that wants to know what an attacker can see about their organization.
The objective of this program is to gather emails, subdomains, hosts, employee names, open ports and banners from different public sources like search engines, PGP key servers and SHODAN computer database.

• Theharvester Backtrack 5- Information Gathering Tutorial

Now we want to know about your favorite tool, it might be possible that you would not find your tool in the list aforementioned list; but it is not a big deal because it is not a final list. You can share the best tools other than mentioned one. I personally like and enjoy thehavester and maltego, what do you like most ?